Who Shot the Prince?
by Animaltalker
Summary: Green & Fontana investigate an infamous former cop turned academy instructor's murder. When evidence points to newly retired Lennie Briscoe, secrets from his past and present may have to be revealed to prove his innocence. Prince of the City Crossover
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes: Although I think this story stands on its own, you may enjoy it more to realize that it is a bit of a crossover with one of Jerry Orbach's best movies Prince of the City. Some of the names of characters therefore are borrowed not only from Dick Wolf's Law & order World, but from Sidney Lumet's world. I've chosen to use the names used in Jay Presson Allen's screenplay rather than Robert Daly's book._

Joe and Ed had caught the latest homicide, a former NYPD detective turned instructor at the police academy, one Daniel Ciello. It was a strange crime scene; the victim had been shot with a .38, up close and personal, but not quite close enough for it to be a suicide. There was no evidence of a break in, and beside the body there was a set of police blues, neatly folded with cap and gloves. Ed and Joe requisitioned Ciello's records and began trying to build a case.

"Man, this guy's life story would make some movie," Fontana commented.

"Yeah, how's that?" Ed asked.

"Well he rocketed through the ranks of the NYPD, and then he became the lead detective in the Special Investigation Unit, it was sort of the front runner of the OCCB. The guys in this unit were the real Princes of the City, they had virtually unlimited power for a while, taking on organized crime, drug lords that sort of thing, but there was this feeling that that sort of power corrupts, so this guy Ciello helped the Feds dismantle the Unit. He turned his own guys in, even his own partner, although from what I'm reading some of his guys got off OK. But some of his unit went to prison and others committed suicide," Fontana concluded.

"So, maybe one of his ex-buddies got out of prison and decided to blow him away," Ed speculated.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," Joe agreed.

"Well, let's see who we've got left of his old squad," Ed said, as he reached for the records Joe had been going over.

They began a list, jotting down names, addresses and any other available information, including age. Most of the men on the list were, like the victim, in their early to mid sixties, except the most recent addition, the one that had Ed hesitating.

"Lennie Briscoe was a part of Ciello's squad?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"That's what the records say," Joe answered.

"That can't be right," Anita said as she was passing by.

"Why not?" Fontana asked.

"Ciello's SIU squad was broken up back in the early 70's, but Lennie was still walking a beat back then," Anita answered.

"But the records clearly show a Leonard W. Briscoe, detective grade three. Sounds like there's some sort of discrepancy there, maybe we need to do some interviewing," Joe suggested.

"Well you can talk to him, but there's no way he's involved in any of this," Anita said in a tone of voice that said she had no doubts.

_Outside an impressive looking office in a high rise in Manhattan_

Joe and Ed stood before the door that said Levy and associates. "You suppose this guy's going to talk to us about Ciello's death?" Joe asked.

"He was Ciello's partner in the SIU before the unit was dispersed," Ed replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, we aren't going to get any answers out here," Joe said as he opened the door.

A pretty blonde secretary greeted the two detectives, and then after checking their IDs led them into her boss' office. Gus Levy was a tall, lean man in his early sixties. He had salt and pepper hair, deep-set sleepy looking blue grey eyes under bushy eyebrows and a large nose with a bit of waywardness to it. His skin was well tanned, as though he enjoyed outdoor sports, and he had a sensuous mouth that looked as though it were equally ready to devour a good meal, or quirk with a charming smile, or ravish an unsuspecting innocent with a languid kiss.

"Well, detectives what can I do for you?" Gus Levy asked, in a rich baritone obviously native to the New York area, as he stood and shook hands with the two men, offering them seats.

"Well Mr. Levy, my partner and I are investigating the homicide of Daniel Ciello. I understand he was once your partner," Fontana said getting right into the interrogation, as Ed stood, mesmerized by the man who looked and sounded so much like his former partner Lennie Briscoe.

"Danny's dead?" Gus asked, and sat down obviously shocked.

"Yes, he was found dead of a gunshot wound at his home early this morning," Joe added, shooting a look up at his partner, wondering when or if Ed was ever going to come out of his trance, sit down and start taking part in the investigation.

"Guess I always knew somebody would pop Danny one day. Hell, there was a time I was so mad at him I thought about it myself," Gus admitted.

"And how do we know you didn't go from thinking to doing?" Fontana asked, trying to ignore the fact that Ed was beginning to creep him out.

"I've been working a big case for the last three days. If you want to see my notebooks that show where I've been and what I've been up to you're welcome to them," Levy said, and then stood up and walked to the window of his office. "But the bottom line is, I gave up being mad at Danny years ago. Yeah, he ratted out his own. Some really good cops ate their guns or spent time in the slammer because of him, but I finally came to realize that as misguided as Danny was, he thought he was doing the right thing," Gus answered, as he turned to again face Fontana and Green.

"What about you, didn't he rat you out too?" Fontana asked, pressing Levy, and wishing fervently his own partner would come out of his trance.

"Yeah, but although they indicted me, they couldn't convict me of anything, so the only thing happened was I was thrown off the force. Turned out to be the best thing ever happened to me. I opened up this agency and I've been making a really good living ever since, never would have made as much as a cop, not even in the SIU. Hell, the only thing I really stayed mad at Danny for, was that he let them go after Lennie too," Gus admitted.

"Lennie?" Ed asked, finally coming out of his funk.

"Hey, he talks," Gus said to Joe with a laugh, which Joe couldn't help sharing at his partner's expense. "Yeah, Lennie Briscoe, he's part of my family. You know Lennie?" Levy asked, his brow furrowing, as if he should know the answer to his own question.

"Yeah, he was my partner for 5 years before he retired," Ed explained, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Ah, Ed Green, you're the one that calls him Old Spice. I should have made the connection. No wonder you been standing there like you've seen a ghost or something. You noticed the family resemblance, huh?" Levy asked Ed, finally realizing why the younger cop had been so transfixed.

"Yeah, you two could be twins except for the hair," Ed nodded as he answered.

"Yeah, the hair," Gus shook his head. "Well, there's a good reason Lennie screws that beautician Cele on a regular basis, and it's called being vain," Gus said with a laugh.

"So how are you and Lennie related?" Ed asked.

"Uh, we're cousins, actually double cousins, our mothers are sisters and our fathers are half-brothers," Levy answered a bit nervously.

Fontana shot Levy a look, and Green wondered what it meant.

"Guess that explains why the two of you look so much alike," Ed remarked.

"Yeah, the kid's always been a dead ringer for me. It's caused him some grief over the years and vice versa." Levy said with a good-natured laugh.

Just then Fontana's cell phone rang, and he took the call while Ed and Gus continued their conversation.

"Uh, that was the tech in forensics, he thinks maybe he's got something we should look at," Joe said.

"OK, hey, we might stop back and talk to you some more, if you think of something that might be useful, give us a call," Ed said as he handed Levy one of his cards.

"Sure thing," Levy said, as the two detectives left the office.

"You trust him don't you?" Joe asked Ed as the two men walked to their car.

"Yeah, don't you," Ed asked.

"About some things, sure. But look just because he looks like your old partner, doesn't mean he is your old partner," Joe replied.

"Of course, I know that, you think I'm stupid or something?" Ed asked sounding annoyed.

"No, of course not. But I know how much you think of this Lennie Briscoe. He's not just A former partner of yours. He's THE former partner. And I know the Lieutenant thinks Briscoe practically walks on water. But both of you have to get over that, because both Briscoe and this cousin of his just might turn out to be murder suspects. So I'm just trying to warn you not to be so trusting of this guy," Joe finished.

"You think he was lying about something?" Ed asked somewhat defensively.

"Yeah, but it doesn't make any sense to me," Joe replied, pondering.

"Why?" Ed asked.

"I believe him about Ciello and his whereabouts, but I think he's lying about something about Briscoe, and I really don't get that," Fontana admitted.

"What makes you think he's lying about something to do with Lennie?"

"When you asked Levy how he and Briscoe were related, he sounded like a guy making up a story or something. I was watching him. He was nervous, and that was the first time he'd been nervous the whole time we'd been there," Joe said laying out his reasons for doubting Levy.

"I don't know that sounds pretty weird to me." Ed countered.

"I know, but I'm just telling you what I saw. I think we need to talk to him some more, and I bet he's more likely to tell you something than me," Joe speculated.

"I suppose so," Ed reluctantly agreed.

"Come on let's see what Beck's got for us," Joe said, trying to break his partners mood.

The ride over to the crime lab was tenser than most.

"So Beck what have you got for us," Ed asked.

"Well, the dress blues were definitely not Ciello's," the technician said in his typical eager way.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Fontana asked.

"Well for one thing, the uniform belonged to a man who was probably a good 4 inches taller than Ciello, judging from the inseam of the pants. Also the guy wasn't as heavily built as your victim," Beck replied.

"What about the vintage of the uniform?" Green asked.

"Well it's pretty old, probably late sixties. Although this type of uniform was used a little earlier and a little later than that, I'd say it was issued somewhere between 1967 to 1969. But the really exciting thing is the cap. While the uniform had been dry cleaned, so there was no real forensic value, well other than telling us we're probably looking for a guy who became a cop in the late sixties, who is about 6' 2" and at the time he wore that uniform was on the lean side," Green and Fontana gave Beck a look that told him to quit rambling.

"Right, the cap, there were a few strains of short dark brown, almost black hair, but no follicles; however there were sweat stains, and we will be able to run DNA analysis off the stains, though it's going to take a couple of weeks for the RFLP, but the PCR results will probably be back tomorrow or the day after at the latest. In the mean time, I can tell you, we did do a quick ABO and Rh typing from the sweat stain. The cap belonged to an AB negative individual, if that's any help," Beck told the detectives.

"Yeah, I'm sure that will help," Fontana said, noticing his partner's reaction when Beck mentioned the blood type.

"What was with that look when Beck said the cap belonged to someone with AB negative blood?" Fontana asked.

"Lennie's six foot two and he's AB negative, and from what I've been told before he went as grey as his cousin Gus, and his girlfriend Cele started dying his hair this that and whatever, his hair was almost coal black. Maybe it's time to go see my old partner," Ed said dejectedly.


	2. Chapter 2

_Somewhere on Staten Island_

"Hey Mike," Lennie said as his old partner walked into the diner.

"Hey Lennie," Mike replied as he slid into the booth.

"So what's wrong?" Mike asked.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" Lennie asked a bit defensively.

"Lennie, don't shine me on here. You didn't come out to Staten Island just to have breakfast with an old partner and play a round of golf. Now what's the problem?" Mike asked just as the waitress came up. The two partners quickly ordered, mostly to get rid of her.

"OK, OK. I'll be straight with you. I got a call from one of my cousins yesterday. There's some big trouble coming down, and I'm not sure what I should do, exactly," Lennie admitted reluctantly.

"What kind of trouble?" Mike asked trying to get Lennie to open up. Just then the waitress came with their coffee and Lennie procrastinated by doctoring his.

"Lennie, come on what's going on," Mike asked growing impatient with his former partner, and beginning to imagine all sorts of things that could be going wrong.

Finally, Lennie began telling Mike what he knew about Ciello's death, and also about his limited involvement in the SIU.

"So, your cousin Gus thinks they're gonna come looking for you for this?" Mike asked incredulously.

"Yeah, well Gus called in some markers and got some more information about the case. They found my old dress uniform at the scene," Lennie told Mike.

"How the hell would your dress uniform end up there?" Mike demanded to know.

"I'm not sure, but when I got kicked off the force I was majorly pissed off. I was just so mad I didn't want anything to do with something that would remind me of the fucking NYPD. As I cleaned out my locker, I left my dress uniform sitting on the bench. So if anybody wanted to take it to use to frame me for something later." Lennie paused. "Well, I left myself wide open for it," Lennie finished explaining.

"What I don't get is, if you were so new to Ciello's SIU squad, how did they end up having anything on you to throw you off the force?" Mike asked.

Lennie sighed and rubbed his hands on his thighs. "Like most newbies to a detective squad, I got all the scud work. You know how it is. The new guy does all the research, the worst follow up stuff, the tiring footwork, and I was the official errand boy. I knew every donut shop, take out joint and dry cleaners in Manhattan. The only real work they let me do was low level buys to set up new street dealers, so we could get higher up the food chain, and when there was a really tough wiretap to setup, I ran interference," Lennie finally told Mike.

"Ran interference?" Mike asked puzzled.

"I'd go chat up the secretary while one of the guys would set the bug," Lennie explained, at Mike's skeptically look he added. "Hey, this was over thirty years ago, chicks kind of dug me back then."

"And somehow you got into trouble doing those simple things?" Mike asked.

"Yeah well, because I helped the guys get the wiretaps in place, they kicked me some money from the busts, the powers that be couldn't prove that by the way, which is why I was only thrown off the force and didn't end up in jail like a lot of other guys," Lennie looked at Mike, to try to see if there was any indication that his former partner was judging him because of his confession, he didn't seem to be.

"But how did you get back on the force? I mean I've never heard of that happening, ever," Mike's hazel eyes tried to bore into Lennie's blue grey eyes, but Lennie broke eye contact and pretended to be very interested in the meal the waitress had just brought.

"Lennie?" Mike prompted him.

"Well, to tell you the truth I'm not sure, but Gus told me to just lay low for a while and that somehow it would work out. I was allowed back in, but my first 3 years on the force aren't mentioned in my service jacket. I didn't get any credit for them towards my retirement. As far as my record is concerned, I wasn't on the force officially until '71, unless of course the NYPD needs for me to be, then they haul out a different version of my records," Lennie explained with a bit of bitterness in his voice.

"You think somehow your cousin made it happen?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, but I think so. I mean Gus has taken care of me since I was a little kid, this wouldn't be any different," Lennie said.

"You never asked him?" Mike asked.

"He'd just get annoyed at me for asking," Lennie answered in a matter of fact manner.

"So, you got an alibi for when Ciello was murdered?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, but –," Lennie hesitated and thought to himself, 'Damn, twice in my life I've needed an alibi and both times I've had another man's wife in my bed.'

"Yeah, but what?" Mike asked.

"Even if they're crucifying me, I'm not going to ask my alibi witness to come forward," Lennie said emphatically.

"Why not?" Mike asked, but before Lennie could answer, Mike's deep understanding of his former partner prompted him to hit Lennie with another barrage of questions.

"Oh I know, you're being all noble, aren't you? What is it? Is she married? Is that it?" Mike asked, and before Lennie could answer this round of questions, Mike sighed and crossed his arms in front of him.

"God Lennie, you stupid bastard," Mike said with a laugh. "I'll bet you even think you're in love with this bitch, don't ya?" he asked.

Lennie got up, opened his wallet and threw some money on the table. "You're right. I am stupid, otherwise I'd have never come to a jerk like you for help," Lennie said, and then he stomped out of the diner, yanking the door open with such ferocity that the bells rang wildly as he left.

"Lennie, Lennie hold up! I'm sorry!" Mike Logan called as he ran after his friend. Lennie slowed down and finally came to a stop.

"Why don't you come back and finish breakfast, and I'll try not to be such a jerk, OK?" Mike suggested.

"Yeah OK," Lennie finally said, and turned and walked back with Mike.

The waitress set their plates back down when they walked in, and went to fetch them fresh coffee.

"I'm sorry, I guess I got so mad because you were so close to the truth. I'd been sitting here thinking, twice in my life I've need an alibi, and both times I've been with married women," Lennie admitted, unable to look Mike in the face, he played with the food on his plate.

"Doesn't seem like you have much respect for marriage vows," Mike observed.

"Seems that way doesn't it," Lennie said, with a rueful little laugh, and finally looked up at Mike.

"So, are you in love with her?" Mike asked gently.

"Yeah, but it's not the way you think, Mike. I mean we weren't, we aren't having an affair. The other night just happened. She came by because she needed somebody to talk to. Her marriage has been rocky for a long time; she's just stayed in it because of her boys. The other night she found out her husband has had this young mistress for quite a while and he's got her pregnant. Now he wants a quick divorce, so he can marry this girl before she has his baby. She needed me and I wanted her, God, how I wanted her. Can you understand Mike? I can't use her for an alibi, I just can't," Lennie almost pleaded with Mike to understand his position.

"Yeah, I understand, but I also seem to remember that the last time you tried to keep your mouth shut about having an alibi witness, the lady stepped forward on her own. Don't you think this one will do the same?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, and she really shouldn't do that. People will get the wrong idea about her and me. It could ruin her career," Lennie said almost more to himself than to Mike.

Suddenly Mike put all the clues together.

"Oh Lennie, for Christ sake, tell me you weren't with Anita," Mike pleaded with his old friend.

Lennie didn't say anything, he didn't have to; Mike knew he'd guessed correctly. He also knew Lennie wasn't lying when he said he loved her or that he'd never tell who he was with that night. Mike stared at his coffee and wondered how he could help. He had to help, because if he couldn't be the one to love Lennie, and he knew he couldn't, his old partner just wasn't wired that way, then he had to make sure that Lennie was with someone he loved, who loved him in return.


	3. Chapter 3

_Back in the City_

Ed and Joe had assigned Ana Cordova and a technician to gather DNA samples from the SIU detectives on the list. They decided they'd get samples from Lennie and Gus Levy themselves. So they stood in front of Lennie's apartment door early in the morning knocking, but got no answer. An elderly woman in the next apartment opened her door, but didn't remove the chain.

"You looking for Leonard?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" Ed Green asked.

"Well, since he's retired from the force, he goes golfing most mornings," she answered.

"You wouldn't happen to know which golf course he favors would you?" Joe asked, pouring on the charming and hoping.

"Well, he mentioned something about going over to see his old partner Mike, when he went golfing today," she answered.

"Thank you, Mrs. Landers," Ed said.

"How did you know my name?" Mrs. Landers asked a bit shocked.

"Lennie was my partner before he retired. He used to talk about his nice neighbor lady Mrs. Landers," Ed explained with a grin.

"I should have known. Well, I hope you find him," she said, and then closed her door.

"Great, a ferry ride," Ed grumbled.

"A ferry ride?" Fontana asked.

"Yeah, the Mike she mentioned is Mike Logan. He was Lennie's first partner at the 2-7. He got himself sent to Staten Island a long time ago for punching out a politician," Green explained.

"Well, if you've got to screw up, at least punching a politician's a good cause," Joe laughed as they headed to the car.

_Back on Staten Island_

By the time Lennie and Mike had finished breakfast and talked for a while, Lennie felt a bit better about the situation. He was still a tad uneasy about Mike bringing his partner Frankie into things to help, but he was going to go with his gut, which told him to trust Mikey. Which was why he was playing a round of golf, as though he weren't at all upset about things.

By the time Ed Green and Joe Fontana drove to the ferry and road it across to Staten Island, and then found their way to the golf course Lennie was playing at, he was already on the back nine.

"Hey hold up, Lennie," Ed shouted at his partner as the older man pulled his golf clubs down the fairway after his tee shot.

"Hey Ed, what are you doing out here, and who's this guy?" Lennie asked with a smile, shielding his eyes as he looked back at Ed and his new partner.

"Lennie Briscoe, this is Joe Fontana, my new partner," Ed said by way of introduction.

"Well, he dresses a bit sharper than I ever did, but uh, One Police Plaza figure you still need a more uh, what's the word I'm looking for, Fontana?" Lennie asked the other man good-naturedly.

"Good-looking?" Fontana offered.

"That's it, that's it exactly," Lennie agreed with a laugh.

"I guess they figure if I could put up with having you watch my back for five years, I could handle having this guy as a partner," Ed said with his trademark grin, as he resisted the impulse to hug Lennie.

"So as much as I'm glad to see you Ed, I figure there's got to be a reason you came all the way out here to find me, so what's up?" Lennie asked, giving his old partner an opening.

"You hear about Danny Ciello's murder?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, my cousin Gus called me about it," Lennie answered.

"Did he tell you to expect us?" Fontana asked with just a hint of suspicion.

"Not exactly. He just said you stopped by his office and asked some questions. He figured you might ask me some too, since I worked in Danny's squad, even if I was just the squad's gopher," Lennie answered.

"So you were the new kid in the squad?" Fontana asked, talking to Lennie more like to another cop than to a suspect.

"Yeah, I'd just gotten my shield and Gus asked Danny to take me into the squad. Some of the other detectives didn't like that much, and so Danny kind of kept me at arm's length from everything. I just did a lot of background checking and ran a lot of errands," Lennie answered.

"Didn't really get to do any of the stuff SIU was known for?" Ed asked.

"What are you asking Ed?" Lennie asked his old partner with an edge.

"Well, a lot of the SIU got thrown off the police force for a variety of indiscretions, some of them went to jail and a few of them ate their guns. Seems like you and your cousin Gus and Danny Ciello are about the only guys who came out Scot free," Fontana said with a challenging note in his voice.

"You think I came out of it Scot free do you? Well think again, " Lennie said heatedly. "They tried to indict me like they did the rest of the squad, but they couldn't make anything stick on me, just like they couldn't on Gus. They threw me off the force, but I waited them out, came back and reapplied. At first they were gonna make me go back through the academy, but they finally relented, I had to go back to walking a beat and I had to work my way up the ladder all over again. The powers that be made it very clear to me too, that no matter what I scored on a written exam, I'd never make sergeant, let alone lieutenant," Lennie stopped talking, breathing hard. It was obvious that this was something he didn't often talk about and it upset him a lot.

"Sounds like maybe you had a good reason to be ticked off at Danny Ciello. So can you account for your whereabouts Monday night, say between 11pm and 1am?" Fontana asked.

"I was at home in my apartment all night," Lennie answered.

"Alone?" Fontana asked.

"No, but I'd rather keep my companion's name out of this," Lennie answered.

"Lennie, you know your alibi is worthless unless you give us her name," Ed said.

"Hey Ed, maybe your being presumptuous there, maybe the reason your old partner doesn't want to say who he was with, is that he was with a guy. Is that it Briscoe? Afraid we'll find out you're gay?" Fontana asked with a bit of a sneer.

"No, that's not it. If that were my persuasion I'd just come out with it." Lennie said with a defensive edge to his voice.

"Well, if it's not that, and you really do have an alibi, then you must have been with a married lady. Look, it's not really that big a deal any more," Fontana said trying to get Lennie to open up.

"Shit," Green said, as a likely scenario popped into his head.

"Ed?" his partners asked in unison.

"Joe, don't you remember what the Lieutenant told us yesterday?" Ed asked a slightly confused Fontana. "She said we could talk to Lennie, but there was no way he was involved in this," Ed said, and then he stared at Lennie until Lennie had to look away.

"Oh," was all Fontana could manage, as he tried to imagine his lady boss and Briscoe in flagrante delicto.

"Uh Joe, would you mind giving me a minute with Lennie?" Ed asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll see if I can't find what happened to Lennie's tee shot," Fontana said, as he gestured to Lennie to let him take his golf cart and head down the fairway.

When Fontana got out of earshot Ed turned to Lennie, but before he could ask anything Lennie spoke up.

"Don't ask me Ed, because I'm not talking about it," Lennie said firmly.

"Lennie, it's just that,"- Ed began.

"No! For pity sake, can't you leave it be. If not for me, for her?" Lennie asked hotly and the look in Lennie's eyes was as close as Ed Green had ever seen to pleading from the older man.

"Yeah, I can leave it be, and I can even get Fontana to leave it be, but what if the evidence won't leave it be, then what do we do, bro?" Ed asked.

"You mean the dress uniform?" Lennie asked.

"How did you know about that?" Ed asked puzzled.

"Gus told me," Lennie answered in a matter of fact way and then started walking down the golf course to where Fontana had found his tee shot.

"And how did he know about it, Joe and me sure didn't mention it to him?" Ed asked, the tone of his voice somewhere between curious and irritated.

"Gus wouldn't be such a successful PI if he didn't have connections downtown," Lennie answered.

"Looks like you'll need a 3 or a 4 iron," Joe suggested to Lennie as he looked at Ed to see how things were going. Ed shrugged.

"Yeah, so give me a 7 wood," Lennie said.

"So what about that uniform Lennie?" Ed asked after Lennie hit his fairway shot.

As the three men made there way up to the putting green, Lennie explained about his leaving his uniform when he cleaned out his locker.

"Do you remember who was there when you cleaned out your locker?" Joe asked, hoping for another lead.

"Man, that was over 30 years ago," Lennie answered. He rubbed his chin as he tried to remember.

"The only guy I can clearly remember being there was Dan Giletti," Lennie finally answered.

"Giletti, Chief of Detectives Giletti?" Ed asked, clearly wanting to be sure he wasn't mishearing Lennie.

"Yeah, Dan was a year ahead of me at the academy. It really burned him up when I got my gold shield before he did, and that Gus got me on with the SIU. Of course that wasn't the first thing I'd done that rubbed him the wrong way," Lennie said with a smile that said he was definitely remembering something he enjoyed.

"I'll go for it, what else did you do?" Fontana asked.

"I married the hot chick he wanted, but couldn't get past first base with," Lennie said with a laugh.

"Oh great, and he ended up Chief of D. When you piss somebody off, you really go for it!" Ed said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well I ended up paying alimony to her too," Lennie said shaking his head ruefully.

"So how come you remember Giletti being there?" Fontana asked.

"I made some smart assed comment to him about my uniform. See, Dan would have been about the only guy in the precinct who could have worn it," at Ed's slightly puzzled look, Lennie continued explaining, "Thirty years ago, 6'2" was not as common a height for a guy as it is now, plus I was pretty skinny back then and so was Giletti," Lennie finished his explanation.

"Lennie, how did you manage to get back on the force?" Joe asked a bit suspiciously.

"I don't know exactly. For a little while after I was canned, I worked for my Uncle Harry, Gus' dad. Gus said just sit tight and things would be OK. After his trial was over, he said I should reapply to the department. I thought he was crazy, but I did it. They let me stew for a bit, but finally said I could come back. And like I said, at first they were going to make me do the academy again. I think just to embarrass me. Then they said no, just some refresher courses on some new stuff, but then I had to start all over again walking a beat. After a while they made it very clear to me, I was no longer wonder boy. Didn't matter how often I got written up for commendations, I didn't get them, and promotions were few and far between. When I had the highest score on the sergeant's exam and got passed over for promotion, I finally got it. I was going to be a detective forever. It took me a long time to accept that, and I spent a good deal of time in the bottle feeling sorry for myself over it too. Actually, if it hadn't been for Donnie Cragen, I 'd never have made grade," as he told the story, Lennie's face had gone through a kaleidoscope of emotions - confusion, trust, annoyance, anger, resignation, and gratitude.

"You think your cousin had something to do with your being allowed back on the force?" Ed asked.

"I don't know, and I don't talk to Gus about that stuff. It just doesn't seem fair. He was a good cop too. They shouldn't have treated him the way they did," Lennie answered, sounding for all the world like a kid defending his best friend or an older brother.

Joe and Ed exchanged looks. They knew when not to push a subject. They were going to go talk to Levy again after they were done with Lennie anyway, so they'd ask him about it.

"OK, I think we've got everything we need from you, except a DNA sample," Joe said.

"A DNA sample?" Lennie asked rather startled.

"Yeah, I know we think the uniform is probably yours, but …" Ed trailed off as he held the DNA sample kit out to Lennie. Lennie simply nodded his head in understanding as he took it.

"Man, never thought I'd have to do one of these," he said, as he took the swab and scraped the inside of his cheek and then placed the swab back in the container.

"Beck will be ever so grateful," Fontana added and then crossed his arms waiting.

"Say hi to the kid for me. What else you need?" Lennie asked when Fontana didn't turn to leave.

"Nothing, I just want to see if you can sink this putt." Joe said with a smile.

"How much you want to bet me?" Lennie asked with a feral grin.

"Uh Joe, I don't know about Lennie's golf game, but he's a hell of a pool player, and I've heard that good pool players are usually pretty good putters," Ed said warning his current partner.

"Hey, whose side are you on, Ed?" Lennie asked his former partner, wondering if Ed knew he was helping him set Joe up even better by telling him not to bet.

Joe looked at the putt; it was a long one, maybe 20 feet. "A c-note says you can't sink it," he said confidently.

"Geez, he throw around that kind of money all the time?" Lennie asked Ed, and Ed just nodded as Lennie pulled out his putter and sauntered over to his ball. He spent some time judging the break of the green. Fontana went over to the hole to pull the pin if the putt was a good one. Lennie took a few small practice swings then tapped the ball toward the cup. The ball moved at a good pace and bent just slightly when it need to. Joe pulled the pin at the last second and swore softly, "Damn, you make it look easy, Lennie."

"Had to, didn't have a hundred bucks on me," Lennie confessed with a laugh as he retrieved his ball from the cup.

Joe peeled a c-note off his ever-present wad of cash and handed it to Lennie. "Well, now you do," he said with a grin.

Ed shook his head, he wasn't sure which was worse that his current partner was betting with a suspect or that his former partner, the suspect, hadn't had the money to cover the bet in the first place.

"If you play pool as well as you golf, I'd be interested in a game sometime," Joe propositioned.

"Well, as long as I don't end up in the slammer over Ciello's death, I'd be glad to oblige you sometime," Lennie replied.

As Ed and Joe got ready to leave, Ed lingered for a moment. He wished he could have a few moments alone with Lennie. He really missed him.

"Take care partner," Ed said and gave Lennie's hand a shake and his arm a squeeze. Then he pulled his face up close to Lennie's and added softly, "We'll find a way to keep her out of this, I promise." Lennie held Ed's hand and arm firmly, but it was his grey blue eyes that pinned Ed. "I'm going to hold you to that," he said in a voice that told Ed he meant it. Ed walked away, back towards Joe's car and fought the urge to look back at the man he'd called partner for so many years. He couldn't explain exactly how he felt about Lennie. Maybe it was what Joe had said; Lennie was THE partner.


	4. Chapter 4

"You gonna start this thing up or what?" Ed asked as Joe just sat in the car.

"Oh yeah, I was just thinking," Fontana replied as he turned the engine of his sports car over.

"What about?"

"Your former partner and the lieutenant, not exactly a combination I would have guessed, but then again I can see it happening," Joe answered.

"Oh really?" Ed said skeptically.

"Yeah well, they worked together for a long time didn't they?" Joe asked as he drove toward the ferry.

"Yeah something like 11 years," Ed answered.

Joe went into his 'let me tell you what I learned from a cable TV show mode', "Sometimes people work together for a long time like that, they fall into what's called platonic affairs. They become very intimate in all ways except sexually, usually because there's some big barrier to an actual affair, like the regulations against anti-fraternization, or one or the other of the couple being married and devoutly religious. So when the barriers come down it shouldn't be surprising–"

"You know, I'm not particularly in the mood to hear your amateur psychoanalysis of Lennie and the Lieutenant's relationship, right now," Ed interrupted a bit sharply.

"Ok, let's just work the case then, we'll go back to Levy's and get the DNA sample we need from him, ask if he arranged to get Lennie back on the force and see what he knows about Giletti," Fontana suggested contritely.

"Yeah, let's just do that," Ed said and then remained silent the rest of the trip back to Manhattan.

As Lennie completed the back nine, his mind wouldn't stop worrying over the situation. By the time he'd sunk the putt at the eighteenth, he'd made up his mind that no matter how awkward it was, he had to talk to Anita. He felt sure she regretted being with him; otherwise she wouldn't have left while he was asleep, but it didn't matter. He had to talk to her. He had to make sure she handled things the right way.

The phone rang and Anita van Buren answered it almost reflexively, "Van Buren, oh hi Lennie," she said her voice growing softer and more feminine. She listened for a moment.

"OK, I think I can get a way for lunch. Where would you like to meet?" she asked.

"Oh, all right, I'll stop by the deli and bring some sandwiches over, see you about 11:30, OK?" She waited for his answer then said goodbye.

_A street somewhere in Manhattan_

Ed and Joe found themselves at a stakeout that Gus was conducting; when the two pulled up to his Cadillac SUV, he was not pleased.

"Did Margie tell you were to find me?" he asked hotly.

"Yes, she did," Joe answered.

"Damn, if she wasn't family, I'd fire her pretty little ass," Gus grumbled, then added impatiently, "What do you two need?"

"Uh, well we need a DNA sample and an answer to a question," Joe said bluntly.

"Well, I'm mad enough to spit, would that work for your DNA sample," Gus replied testily.

"Well, actually I think the lab would prefer you used the kit," Ed said. Gus grabbed the container out of his hand, opened it, scraped the inside of his cheek with the swab and resealed the container with a practiced hand, all before either Joe or Ed could say a word.

"OK, so what's the question? I need to get the two of you out of here before you blow my cover on this stake out," Gus said impatiently.

"Fine, let's get to the point. Did you have something to do with Lennie getting back on the police force, and could that have something to do with Ciello's death?" Joe asked.

Gus shot Joe a look and then furrowed his brow thinking.

"Lennie, tell you guys I got him back on the force?" he asked.

"No, but he said he thought you had, but that he didn't ask you. I got the feeling he wouldn't feel right bringing it up to you. Seems like he feels you really got a raw deal, and well I got the sense that as far as Lennie's concerned you're sort of a hero in his eyes," Joe finished.

Gus harrumphed, "Yeah, well he's kind of like a kid brother to me, and you know how that goes."

Joe and Ed both nodded.

"So did you get Lennie back on the force?" Ed repeated the question.

"Yeah, you see when I was working undercover in the garment district, I found out about this beat cop who was on the take. He was a year ahead of Lennie at the academy and it burned his butt that Lennie had moved up so much quicker than he had. Well, this punk had family who were real high up in the NYPD, but there he was taking kickbacks from the mob. So after they kicked Lennie and me off the force, and tried but failed to convict me, I went to see this cop's old man. I told the guy, either Lennie got back on the force or I'd dime out his kid," Gus finished his story with a bit of a grin.

"Who was this guy?" Ed asked.

"The old man's name was Antonio Gilletti, his son is Daniel Gilletti, currently he's the Chief of Detectives of the NYPD," Gus answered.

Ed and Joe exchanged looks.

"I remember meeting him, when Lennie and me had that case at Raimondo's. He knew the owner really well and said the restaurant was near and dear to him. Turned out the owner hired the guy who killed the producer, although the hit wasn't suppose to go down inside the restaurant," Ed commented.

"You think Giletti could have killed Ciello, or had him killed, and tried to make it look like Lennie did it?" Joe asked.

"Maybe, or maybe he was even trying to throw the suspicion at me. I mean there were guys who knew I was bent out of shape at Danny about him letting them go after the kid like that, though why Giletti would wait so long to do it makes no sense to me," Gus added.

"Boy, does this take things in a new, fun direction," Joe said sarcastically.

"Hey, you guys tell me something?" Gus asked tentatively.

"Sure if we can," Ed promised.

"Does Lennie have an alibi or not?" Gus said in a frustrated tone.

"You mean you don't know?" Joe asked in an almost mocking tone.

"No, he wouldn't give me a straight answer, that's why I'm asking you guys," Gus said, trying to hold back his irritation.

"Well, the answer to your question is yes and no," answered Ed.

"What the hell does that mean?" Levy asked tersely.

"It means he's got an alibi, but he's not willing to use it," Joe supplied and Ed nodded.

"Oh let me guess, he's protecting a woman," Gus said dejectedly.

"You got it in one," Joe said, and then added. "Guess you know your cousin fairly well."

"Yeah, Lennie has this incredible talent for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and if being with some other guy's gal would make it worse, well that'd be Lennie's luck," Gus said with a laugh and a rueful shake of his head, and then he added almost as an afterthought, "she's married isn't she?"

"Wish that was all she was," Ed mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say?" Gus asked.

"Never mind, it wasn't important. Look we ought to be getting back. We don't want to stay too long or we might blow your cover, or the person you've been staking out just might slip past you," Ed added.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Guys, figure out who did this, OK? 'Cause I know, and you know, it wasn't Lennie." With that, the three men shook hands, and parted ways.

"Well, let's drop these sample off to Beck and then let's go talk to the boss lady, see how she wants us to proceed," Joe suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like as good a plan as any, but how about we stop and get some lunch after we stop by the lab?" Ed countered.

"One might think you were putting off having to go question the chief of D," Joe teased.

"Oh really, what makes you think I just don't want to go talk to our boss lady?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, well there's that too. Man, I hope I can keep the picture of her doing the horizontal hula with Briscoe out of my head during briefings, or I could be in big trouble," Joe remarked.

"Oh hell, you could have gone all day without saying that! Just get in the damn car and drive, Fontana!" Ed said with mock anger.


	5. Chapter 5

_Lennie's Apartment_

Lennie heard the knock at his apartment door and went to it hesitantly.

"Hi, let me take those," he said, offering to take the bags Anita had from the deli, and then turning to let her follow him into the apartment.

He busied himself with setting out the sandwiches and getting them drinks. Anita finally stopped him by placing her hands over his.

"Lennie what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" she asked him.

"I don't know what you mean," he said, trying to dodge her question.

"Don't do that, tell me what's wrong."

"I don't know, you tell me. After all, I'm the one who woke up alone," he said, as he spun away from her, equally unable to face her or hide the hurt in his voice.

She closed the distance between them and reached out a hand to touch him, but at the last moment couldn't quite bring herself to touch him.

"Oh Lennie, I was afraid to stay. I didn't know what our being together meant to you, and I couldn't have taken it if you, if you –" she couldn't finish the thought.

He turned around and found her so close to him that it was almost instinctive to pull her into his arms.

"Anita, how could you doubt what being with you meant to me? I love you. I've been in love with you for a long time, but I never dreamed I'd be able to hold you in my arms and make love to you. Couldn't you feel my love for you?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes, only, because you never said the words out loud, I convinced myself that it was only my wishful thinking, that only because I love you I imagined that you felt the same," she replied.

Lennie smiled, "I just couldn't find words. Of course I would have, eventually, if you'd hung around," he said with gentle reproach.

"Well, I'm here now," she said with a smile. She threaded the fingers of her right hand through the hair at the back of Lennie's head, and then pulled his head down so she could kiss him. Her left hand roamed over his chest and around his back. His hands began a similar roaming over her body, caressing her breasts and then moving down and around to cup her ass and pull their lower bodies together, letting her feel his desire for her. His mouth devoured hers, and then began a journey down her neck toward her cleavage. Suddenly he pulled away and swallowed hard.

"We can't do this," he said, leaning his forehead against the top of her head.

"What?" she asked incoherently, as she was still lost in the fog of desire he had stirred in her.

Lennie pulled away from her, and walked over to look out the small window in the living room.

"I'm a suspect in a murder investigation that's been assigned to two detectives in your squad, one of whom happens to be an ex-partner of mine. You can't have anything to do with me, and you shouldn't have Ed Green on this case. I asked you to come here, because I wanted to convince you that you ought to hand the Ciello case off to another homicide squad, or maybe even send it to IAB," Lennie said, almost sounding angry.

"Lennie, we both know you couldn't have shot Ciello"– Anita began to counter Lennie's argument, but Lennie interrupted her.

"Yeah, we both know it, but you sure as hell can't go testifying to that," he replied hotly.

"Why not, I can sure enough give you an alibi for the time Ciello was shot," she countered.

"Sure, tell them how I couldn't possible have shot Ciello because I was here making love to another man's wife, making love to a woman who used to be my boss. A prosecuting attorney will say you're lying to protect me. The NYPD might be willing to believe you were with me at the time, but I'd lay odds they won't believe it was the first time we were together. No, they'll start digging for proof that we were lovers back when I was serving under you, and you know what, they'll find something! Even though we both know there's nothing to find. Unless Ciello's real killer is found, all that your coming forward to provide me with an alibi will do, is ruin your career," Lennie voice softened as he finished and he turned back from the window to face Anita, seemingly having run out of steam.

"First of all, my career has been ruined since I sued the department for discrimination. About all they've got left to do to me now is fire me, and you know what? If they sink that low then I don't want to work for them anyway. Second, I suppose your right about the DA saying I'd lie to protect you, I probably would, but since I'm not lying, what we have to do is find another way to corroborate my story. And finally, you're probably right about taking Ed off the case, maybe you're even right about turning it over to another precinct, though it scares me to think of your fate in someone else's hands," as she had ticked of her points, she had come closer and closer to Lennie, and finally had draped her arms around his shoulders, locking her fingers behind his neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked, as he tried to pull her arms down from around his neck.

"Well, since I'm already here, the damage is done. If we're in trouble for being together, we may as well enjoy ourselves," she said with a naughty grin.

"I like how you think," he responded with a wicked grin, and then began leading her back to his bedroom as he quickly began undressing her.

_A while later_

"God, I wish I was about thirty years younger," Lennie said as he lay next to Anita, trying to catch his breath.

"Why?" she asked puzzled.

"So, it wouldn't take me so long to recover from fucking you, so I could do it all over again," he said happily.

Suddenly he realized that Anita wasn't happy. She'd gotten decidedly quiet.

"Shit, if I'm not screwing up by NOT saying something, I'm screwing up by saying the wrong thing. Anita I didn't mean to imply that what we just did was,"- Lennie trailed off, afraid he was digging himself in deeper.

"Ah, hell," he said, levering his lanky form out of bed and reaching for his clothes.

"No, Lennie it's OK." Anita said, reaching out to stop him from getting dressed. "I know what you meant, and you don't have to worry. I don't expect you to always say the perfect thing in the perfect way. It's not like our life is some Broadway play, and you've got Neil Simon scripting every word that comes out of your mouth. Besides, I've been around enough cops t know how they talk. Now, I'd ask you come back to bed and fuck me some more, but I've got to get back to work!"

"Oh Christ, you are so late," Lennie said, glancing at the old Uncle Ben alarm clock on his nightstand.

"I know, help me find what you did with my clothes?" she requested with a grin, as she started scanning the bedroom for various articles of clothing.

Lennie smiled and nodded, and Anita wondered how she'd managed to hold out against her feelings for this wonderful man as long as she had.

"Do I look OK?" she asked a few minutes later as she smoothed down her hair and clothes.

"Do you mean, will anyone suspect you're late getting back from lunch because you you've been in my bed?" he asked with a broad grin.

"Alright yes, I guess that's what I'm asking," she answered.

"Only Ed and Joe, but they'd have suspected that whether you had or not." he answered with a laugh.

"Ooh you," she said, and took a playful swat at him, then gave him a kiss goodbye, which threatened to turn into, much more than they could afford to let it turn into.

"OK, you better go now, and remember what I said about taking Ed off this case," Lennie reminded Anita.

"I know, I promise, I'm going to look into it," she said and then disappeared quickly out his front door before he could complain that that wasn't really a promise.

_Back at the 27th precinct_

"So, wonder where our fearless leader is, or do I want to know?" Joe Fontana said with a smirk.

"Give it a rest, Joe," Ed said in a tone that made it more than a request.

"Sorry Ed. I guess for you it must be like contemplating mama and papa doing it," Fontana teased.

"Would you just shut up, before I shut you up?" Ed said in a disgruntled whisper.

The other detectives in the bullpen were trying to figure out what was going on without looking too much like they were eavesdropping, just then Anita returned from her long lunch.

"If none of you has anything to keep you occupied, I'm sure I could find something for you to do," she announced to the squad room in general, and suddenly everyone became very busy, everyone that is except Joe and Ed, who waited for her at the door to her office.

"Well gentlemen, what have you got on the Ciello case?" she asked, stopping just in front of her desk and giving them each a look she hope gave off her normal air of authority.

Joe and Ed looked at each other, neither knowing exactly where to start.

"Well? Cat got your tongues?" she asked showing an excess of irritation as she moved around her desk and sat down.

Joe looked at Ed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well first off, how much do you know, besides the fact that Lennie Briscoe couldn't have done it, because he's got an alibi for the time of the murder?" Fontana asked pointedly.

Anita crossed her arms in front of her breasts defensively, realizing she really didn't know that much, as she and Lennie hadn't talked about specifics. "Assume I don't know anything but that, detective," she answered sharply.

"Well, Forensics makes it look like Lennie Briscoe is a suspect because there's a set of old dress blues at the scene, circa late 60s, that belonged to a thin man about 6' 2" with dark hair and AB negative blood. There were sweat stains on the cap that the techs are getting DNA off of, so we've gotten samples of all the people in Ciello's SIU unit to see whom it matches, but there's a real good chance that it's Briscoe's uniform," Joe reported and Anita looked at Joe and nodded. Now she understood better why Lennie was saying he was a suspect in the murder.

"We've had several discussions with Briscoe and Ciello's old partner Gus Levy, who just happens to be Briscoe's cousin," Joe continued.

Ed interrupted "Yeah, man Levy and Lennie are dead ringers for each other, except Levy has salt and pepper hair. He says the difference in their hair color is because Lennie's got this beautician girlfriend who keeps messing with his hair color, and I for one believe him on that score."

"Her name is Cele, if I remember correctly," Anita replied sounding peeved. "Care to move on to more relevant things than why Lennie doesn't have salt and pepper hair like his cousin?" Anita asked sounding annoyed.

"Levy claims he didn't hold any grudges against Ciello any more, and he's got a fairly good alibi for that night. He did admit that he was angry with Ciello for letting the commission go after Briscoe, getting him kicked off the force, which by the way, explains why there is the discrepancy in the records. Briscoe's service jacket was altered to expunge his first three years on the force, which were apparently stellar," Joe explained, he and Ed finally falling into a pattern of summarizing their investigation for the lieutenant.

"Yeah, they kicked Lennie off the force for his involvement in the SIU, which was apparently pretty minimal, since he was the newbie in Ciello's squad. Lennie didn't know how or why, but later he was allowed back on the force. He always suspected his cousin had something to do with it, but didn't ever ask for explanations. Levy explained that during his undercover work in the garment district, he found out that a young beat cop, whose father was high up in the NYPD, was on the take. He threatened to rat the young cop out to the commission, if the father didn't fix it so Lennie was reinstated. That young cop was Dan Giletti, current Chief of Detectives. Lennie believes it's possible Giletti had his dress uniform from when Lennie was kicked off the force." Ed picked up the explanation.

"So, now we're supposed to be poking around looking at the Chief of D, huh?" She asked skeptically, getting up and starting to walk around her desk. "Maybe Lennie's right, maybe it is time to hand this over to somebody else," Anita pondered out loud, stopping and perching on the front of her desk.

"Hand the case off?" Joe asked with a note of agitation in his voice.

"Yeah, Lennie called me over to his place for lunch," Fontana who was very close to her in the close quarters of her office, looked her up and down, as if to say he knew it was a lot more than that. She felt heat rising to her face and hoped her natural coloring would hide her embarrassment. She continued hoping neither detective noticed that she was flustered by Fontana's appraisal. "He felt that given his involvement in the case and his former relationship to this squad, we should hand the case off to another squad, or maybe even to IAB," she managed to get out.

"Man, we can't do that," Ed responded immediately.

"I agree," Joe added.

"And just when did you two get the impression that I was looking for your opinions on that decision?" she snapped at them.

"Well, you damn well better get somebody's opinion besides your boyfriend's," Fontana barked back at her.

"Say what?" Anita straightened up from where she'd been sitting on her desk and got into Fontana's face.

"Whoa, take it easy," Ed said trying to get a handle on the situation and wondering what the hell had gotten into his partner.

Fontana put his hands up recognizing he'd made a huge tactical mistake, but his next words didn't sound like a complete surrender.

"Look, Ed and I know that you can alibi Briscoe. We also know, he doesn't want you to, and frankly he's got a point. If we turn this over to somebody else and those dress blues are his, they're more than likely going to haul him in for questioning. If he doesn't give you up as his alibi witness, they'll be lazy and rather than work any other leads, they'll just charge him. I sure don't see any other unit going after the Chief of Ds without a lot more to go on than what he'd be willing to give 'em," Joe explained his position.

"Just because Lennie wouldn't use me as his alibi, doesn't mean I won't come forward on my own," Anita said.

"And ruin your career?" Fontana asked her frankly.

"What career?" Anita asked with a laugh. "Or haven't you heard, I've been stuck at lieutenant for 11 years. One Police Plaza would like me to resign or retire or maybe just take a bullet in the line of duty, anything just to get me out of their hair," she added in a huff.

"Oh well, then you're gonna be a great alibi witness. They'll rip you up six ways to Sunday. You're lying to protect your lover. He's been your lover for years, and of course everyone in the 2-7 knows it," Fontana started in on her.

"That's not true and you know it!" she shouted at Fontana.

"What would I know? I'm the new guy around here. What I do know is, you'd make a lousy witness. Look at how rattled you're getting," Joe argued.

Anita took a deep breath to calm herself, "Right now, I'm not very happy with you Detective Fontana, but I can see your point. All right, I'll let you two hang on to the case a little longer, but remember, if there comes a time when our having the case seems to be as bad or worse for Lennie than turning it over, then we give it up, understood?" she pointed at each of them as she asked the question and looked for their nods of understanding, which they begrudgingly gave.

"OK gentlemen, you're dismissed," she said.

"Give me a minute, Ed?" Joe asked.

"Sure," Ed said, thinking he knew what Joe was about to do.

"Yes, Detective?" Anita said in a tone that should have given Fontana frostbite.

"I wanted to apologize," he said in a very gentle voice. "I know I was pretty rough on you, but I felt it was necessary. I wanted you to realize how difficult the situation was, but I didn't mean to embarrass you or demean your relationship with Briscoe," he added.

"Apology accepted. I'm afraid I've got a pretty thin skin on the subject," she said in a warmer voice.

"Yeah, well it's usually that way when you fall in love. Especially when you're not sure if you're doing the right thing. Unfortunately, I've been there," he replied, and started to leave the office. He paused at the office door. "Be careful," he added.

Anita didn't know what to think of Fontana, but she did know with the way things were going, she wanted to get back to Lennie ASAP. She just had this weird feeling that their time was now, and there might not be too many tomorrows for them.


	6. Chapter 6

Just as Joe emerged from the Lieutenant's office Ed's cell phone rang.

"Yeah, what you got Logan?" Ed asked. He listened for a little while, scribbling things down on a note pad. "Oh really, that's interesting, jives really well with what we've been hearing over here," he finally said.

"Come on Joe, I'll fill you in on the way over to One Hogan Place. I think it's time to talk to McCoy," Ed said on his way out.

"So what's Logan got?" Joe asked when they got in the car.

"Logan and his partner Frankie have been looking into Ciello's career at the Police Academy, and Frankie found a waiter who was at his retirement party," Ed started.

"Go Frankie," Joe said with a smile.

"Seems Ciello didn't make that many friends at the academy, so it wasn't that big a shindig and there was an unexpected guess who caused a little bit of a dust up," Ed continued.

"Oh, and who was that?" Joe asked, like he was a part of a two-man comedy act.

"Chief of Detectives Daniel Giletti," Ed answered.

"Oh yeah, let's go see McCoy," Fontana said with almost glee in his voice.

EADA McCoy was busy and not in the best of moods when Green and Fontana interrupted his day. He begrudgingly gave them 15 minutes, which once he heard their story, he was willing to stretch to as long as it took.

After the important details of the case had been outlined, Jack leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms up above his head. With a mischievous smile on his face he asked, "So, now that he's retired, Briscoe's banging Van Buren?"

"Looks that way," Joe answered.

"Yeah, but Lennie says it just happened that night 'cause she needed some comforting. She'd just found out her husband had got his mistress pregnant and wanted a divorce," Ed explained defending both his forming partner and his boss.

"So you're saying this isn't like when that married policewoman from the 116 gave him an alibi, when he was pulled in by the Hellman commission?" Jack asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Ed admitted.

"Oh yeah, that was before you were Lennie's partner, back when he was partnered with Rey Curtis," Jack said.

"Briscoe's got a history of having affairs with married police women?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, at least with one and he worked with her too, although she wasn't his supervisor, they were partners," Jack nodded as he explained.

"You know, if we nail Gilletti for this, it's not going to be a problem, because Lennie won't need an alibi," Ed said.

"Yeah, unless Giletti's defense tries to sell Lennie as the perp, as an alternate version of the crime. It could be their best defense strategy," Joe pointed out.

"Damn," Ed swore softly. "I promised Lennie we'd keep the Lieu out of this," Ed said.

"Yeah well, if Lennie believed that could happen, then he's a bigger fool than I'd have ever taken him for," McCoy said.

"Look, I think you've got enough to bring Gilletti in for questioning right now, but I don't know if you're going to be able to make anything stick. Maybe you better find out if Gilletti's got an alibi, and what his motive would be for going after Ciello now," McCoy advised.

"Yeah, I think maybe we better get a little more of a case against him, before we tip our hand," Joe suggested and the other men nodded.

Joe and Ed spent the rest of the day and part of the next nosing around about Giletti. Joe came up with the perfect cover story. He told people that Giletti was in line for a promotion, and the powers that be wanted to make sure there wasn't anything going on that could trip him up. They'd gotten the name of his current girlfriend, and the names of some of his oldest friends, both on the force and recently retired. Before they could follow up on those leads, they got a call from Beck to stop by the crime lab.

"So what's up Beck? You got the DNA analysis on that cap?" Ed asked.

"Well, that's why I called. I can't give you a definitive answer." Beck replied.

"Why not?" Fontana asked abruptly.

"The DNA sample is too degraded to allow me to say for sure whether it's Lennie Briscoe's or Gus Levy's." Beck explained.

"Because they're closely related?" Ed asked.

"You can say that again," Beck muttered.

"What's that mean?" Fontana asked growing impatient with Beck.

"Well, I know you said that Briscoe and Levy are related, but you didn't have the relationship correct, you said they were cousins right?" Beck asked checking for confirmation.

"Yeah Levy said they were double cousins, their fathers were half-brothers and their mothers are sisters," Ed answered.

"Yeah well, their mothers might be sisters, because their mitochondrial DNA is pretty close to being the same, but they have the same father, Levy and Briscoe are brothers," Beck said with certainty.

"What makes you say that?" Joe asked.

"A man inherits his y chromosome from his father, they have the same y chromosomes, therefore they must have the same father," Beck explained.

"Damn, I wonder if either of them knows that?" Ed asked.

"Levy does, that's why he was nervous when you asked about how he and Lennie are related. He knows Lennie is his younger brother, but that's a family secret," Joe said, with the certainty of an experienced detective who has come to what to him is an obvious conclusion.

"And that's why Levy's so protective of Lenny," Ed added, and Joe nodded.

"So how does this affect the case?" Joe said, thinking out loud.

"I don't know that it does, unless Giletti's defense gets a hold of the information, and tries to use it to some how shore up an alternative version of the crime," Ed responded.

"Giletti?" Beck asked his eyes wide.

"Keep that and this info under your hat, understood?" Joe asked, his gaze pinning young Beck.

"Uh, sure, no problem," Beck replied. After the two detectives left, Beck muttered, "Who'd listen to me anyway?"

"You know Ed, I think maybe we should split up. I'll go talk to the old cops, they'll probably feel comfortable with me," Joe speculated.

"Yeah, especially since most of them have names ending in vowels," Ed observed.

"Right, and you go talk to your ex-partner," Joe continued.

"What about?" Ed said, as though he had no idea.

"About what Beck uncovered, or would you rather take the chance that he find that out in the middle of a trial?" Joe asked.

"No, I guess you got a point. Man, this is not something I'm looking forward to doing," Ed said with quiet fervor.

"Well, he'll take it better from you alone than with me tagging along," Joe said.

Ed nodded his head. "Well, hope you have some luck with Giletti's friends."

"Come on, let's head back to the precinct and you can grab a sedan from the car pool," Joe suggested.

By the time Ed got back to the precinct and managed to get a car it was late afternoon and the traffic to Lennie's place was miserable, it had given him time to go over in his mind several different approaches but nothing seemed like a sure fire winner. Ed found himself standing outside Lennie's apartment door, still wondering how he was going to start this conversation. He finally just knocked and figured somehow the words would just come. He waited for what seemed an unusually long time, considering how small he knew Lennie's apartment was. He knocked again and heard a muffled "coming".

"Hey Ed, man all of a sudden I'm seeing almost as much of you as I did when we were partners," Lennie said a bit breathlessly, as he let Ed into his apartment.

"Yeah," was Ed's weak answer.

"So to what do I owe the honor of this little visit? You got some news on the Ciello case? Lennie asked nervously.

"Uh sort of. Everything OK? You seem a little rattled," Ed observed.

Lennie took a deep breath, considering what to say, but before he could reply, Ed realized they weren't alone in the apartment and he snuck a look toward the bedroom door.

"I catch you at a bad time?" Ed said a bit sarcastically.

"Yes, you did, but you may as well tell us what you've found, now that you've interrupted," Anita answered, as she opened the bedroom door and joined the men in the living room.

It was an open question which man was more taken aback by her appearance. Anita acted as though there was absolutely nothing unusual about her appearing from Lennie's bedroom. She took Lennie's hand and guided him to the couch, indicating a chair for Ed to sit in.

"So what's the news?" she asked.

"Uh yeah, well we've been looking at Giletti's movements and motive trying to figure out why he'd choose to move against Ciello now. Joe's talking with some of the chief's old buddies from the force right now, hoping they can shed some light on things. The main reason I'm here though is, well when we were in the middle of things, Beck called us to the lab," Ed began explaining.

"What for, just to confirm the dress blues are mine?" Lennie asked.

"Well no, that's the thing, he couldn't. The DNA was too degraded to distinguish whether it was yours or Levy's and that made Beck curious. You know how he is," Ed said and Lennie nodded, edging forward a bit on the couch, as he was now curious.

"So what did he find?" Lennie asked.

"Well, you've got your kinship with Levy a little messed up, seems you aren't cousins but brothers," Ed said concisely.

"No that can't be right, Beck screwed something up," Lennie asserted.

"No, he double checked. You have identical y-chromosomes, which had to be inherited from the same father. Look man, I realize it can't be easy, this late in the game, to find out you aren't who you think you are, but Joe and I figured it was better you find out now than during a trial," Ed explained.

Lennie got up and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess this explains a lot of things in my life. It's just so hard to imagine, I mean my Mom and my Uncle Harry," Lennie let out a big breath and then sat back down.

"You sure it wasn't your Dad and your aunt?" Ed asked.

"Yeah I'm sure. My old man treated my brother Bernie and me as different as night and day. Bernie was the apple of his eye and me well," Lennie paused, initially lost for the right phrase, the he suddenly thought of the right phrase. "I was the cuckoo's egg and he knew it."

"So your father, or the man you thought was your father, knew the truth about your paternity and took it out on you?" Anita asked.

"I guess you could say that. No matter how hard I tried, I could never please my old man," Lennie began to explain.

"I worked my butt off in school, got pushed ahead a grade twice, I played every sport imaginable and I was damn good at most of them, I went out for school plays, sang in the choir. I did anything and everything I could think of to win his approval, hell to just get his attention. I finally just gave up, but it always ate at me. I never wanted to admit it, but I think, no if I'm honest about it, I know it's where my drinking all got started. I mean if one of your parents thinks your worthless, then you must be, right? So what's the point in being a good kid, following all the rules? I started drinking when I was 13," he told them, in a voice that sounded amazingly vulnerable for a man in his late fifties.

It was obvious to Ed and Anita that this revelation was taping into a deep well of pain for Lennie. Anita put an arm around Lennie and kissed his shoulder, then laid her cheek against his arm. He responded by pulling her to him and momentarily burying his face in her neck.

"How'd you get a hold of liquor when you were so young?" Ed asked with the curiosity of a cop.

"Snuck it out of my uncle's store," Lennie paused to give an ironic laugh. "Guess I should say my Dad's store."

Just as Ed was wondering if he should tell Lennie what Joe suspected, that Gus knew about Lennie's identity, Lennie suddenly stood up and swore, "Damn him, he knew. He's always known and he didn't tell me!"

"Who knew?" Anita asked bewildered.

"Gus, he's always known. That's why he's always looked out for me, protected me," Lennie explained, clearly agitated. "But why didn't he tell me?" he asked with anguish.

"Think what it would have done to you and to your family. I'm sure there were times he wanted to, I bet there were times your Mom and your real Dad wanted to too," Ed assured Lennie.

"Oh God, my Uncle Harry, he always treated me better than my Dad ever did. He came to every football game, every swim meet, every concert and every play. God was I dumb not to see it. He'd put a hand on my shoulder and say 'How's it going' son'. I thought it was just his way of talking," Lennie said a bit of a choke in his voice.

"Your Uncle Harry still around?" Anita asked.

"Yeah, but," –

"No buts about it, I say you go see him." Anita insisted.

"Maybe after this mess with Ciello's murder is settled," Lennie hedged

"How old is your Uncle?" Ed asked suggestively.

"Uh, 88 I think," Lennie answered.

"I think the visit should happen sooner than later, dude," Ed said and Anita nodded and squeezed Lennie's hand.

"Geesh, hope I'm not expected to buy him 50 some years of back Father's day presents," Lennie joked.

"I think you will be present enough," Anita answered.


End file.
